Looking nice and lush, certainly better than ours All the wood on our raised beds blew in the last frost of the year, they lasted 12 years though, so just did the best we could and didn't bother putting too much compost on the remains of the beds which probably explains the lowish yields.Ali has come up with a redesign for the beds so I have only planted half the area with a view to starting the replacement beds in the unused half and then doing the rest when everything has cropped.That's the plan, just got to raid the piggy bank to buy the timber.Dom

Its not cheap that is the problem ,i use pressure treated decking from B&Q when its on offer then get it Wednesday 10% off as well ,i then staple 6in damp course to the inside ,keeps damp soil at bay and stops any leaching ,its been down several years now and still looks ok .

I'm not yet eligable for 10% discount on a Wednesday I used tannalised 2"x9" to do mine but think this time I will go for 2"x8" as it knocks a few quid off. I guesstimate the new layout will about double my growing area as I will be using all of the area instead of 2/3 of it. At the moment it is three 4' x 40' rectangular beds but the missus has designed a more arty farty layout for the new one with a seating area.I will have to start a post showing what is there now, work in progress and the finished thing, if the cash holds up Dom

Ina way its a nice time of the year when the fruits of all your labours come together and you enjoy your fresh grown crops ,but it can be also a sad time when once again Autumn is just around the corner and most things are coming to an end ,i don't grow anything through the winter now relying on winter crops sown in the spring and left in the ground until needed ,things like parsnips ,and leeks ,carrots with a little straw over to keep the worst of any frosts off can also be left and used as needed,onions hung to dry can be used as needed and potatoes dug on a warm dry day can be left to dry before bagging into paper sacks and kept frost free .The majority of what i grow is frozen and used through the winter ,sweetcorn,runner and french beans ,peas,caulies ,any surplus tomatoes can be used for delicious chutneys, red or green or mixed it matters not a jot.Pulled the first cobs of sweetcorn today ,if it stays warm will pull more in the next to weeks for freezing as soon as picked so not to loose any flavour.Onions hanging in the potting shed all dried and ready to use .Carrots have turned out better than usual and the benefits of growing under enviro mesh to keep the bugs off is a bonus.Plenty of spuds coming up on each root and some bigger ones now ,still got the usual scab on them but peel and cook ok so only skin deep.Had a couple of tomato plants left over so with a bit of room in the polly tunnel just bunged them into the ground ,just watered no feed ,turned out the best tomatoes of the lot and the biggest.If your courgette have got out of hand like these 2 ,cut them length ways and hang in the chicken run they love them.

These are the ones i grow ,tried something different last year ,cobs were good but didn't taste the same as these ,if you like sweet cobs then you must try these .Plant in a square block no more than a foot between plants for good germination ,plenty of compost or manure dug in . Some of my tomato plants in the green house are just about done ,cleared a few out yesterday .Start planning for next year now

I will bear those in mind Bill I always plant mine in blocks and usually get cobs but they never seem to grow realy big. I've planted them in the same place I did 2 years ago when I got a great crop, so maybe it gets a bit more sun - when the sun shines that is!

I think I've got about another 3/4 weeks till my tomatoes are ripe, apart from the cherry toms which are lovely now and doing really well

Its been a pretty abysmal week weather wise in Norfolk .Early part of the week we set to and Wendy went to work on some of the Carrots ,cleaning ,slicing and blanching ready for the freezer.

Meanwhile i set to and got the rest of the Potatoes up ,used the polly tunnel to dry and set the skins prior to bagging up ,any damaged ones put in a bowl to use first. Tomatoes are all but over now ,crop has not faired so well this year with lots of smaller tomatoes and not so many bigger ones.